9/11 anniversary: 9/11 diseases may kill more than those who died on Sept. 11

It has been 17 years since first responders rushed in, paying no mind to their own health and safety to rescue, and eventually recover, those who were victims of the September 11 attacks.

Since that day, 10,000 first responders from the World Trade Center have been diagnosed with cancer.

So far more than 2,000 have died. But by the end of this year, some experts believe that the number will grow to more than the 2,977 people who lost their lives in the attacks, the Westchester Journal News reported.

And it isn’t just limited to those who went into service at Ground Zero. Some are concerned about those who worked in the recovery effort at Pier 94, those who were sifting through the debris at Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island and even the local mechanics who worked on the dust-covered trucks that carried the remains of the World Trade Center, the Journal News reported.